so you saw
behind the makeup
smeared foundation
those freckles  
pass the smile 
pass the thrilling laughter
you saw

I'm an orb in a box
rolling rattling splintering

shattered when I 
saw you.

---

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm, the blogger, poet, and translator, was born in 1971 in Phu Nhuan, Saigon, Vietnam. The pharmacist currently lives and works in Western Sydney, Australia.